Leibnisth, Samuel, born 1823, was a Jewish teacher, and after his conversion, about 1868, devoted his leisure to voluntary missionary work among the Jews in Germany. In 1874, he was appointed missionary at Elberfeld, where he died in 1882.
Leitner, H. C., was won for the Master by the Rev. C. A. Schönberger. He laboured at Constantinople as a very able teacher in the Scotch mission schools for many years.
Leitner, Dr. M., born at Pesth in 1800, studied medicine and settled as a practitioner at Broussa in Turkey. Having come into possession of a New Testament, he read it carefully, and was converted and baptized in 1844. He then gave up his lucrative position and devoted his life to missionary work. He was the L.J.S. medical missionary at Constantinople from 1853 to 1861, when he died of fever.
Leo, Dr., a physician in Warsaw, after having had intercourse with the L.J.S. missionaries for eight years, became fully convinced of the truth of the Gospel, and was baptized with his family in 1831.
Leonhard, Friedrich Conrad, a convert in the latter half of the eighteenth century, published a dialogue under the title, "Erweis dass die Rabbinen Schnurstrackswider dass Gesetz Moses lehren, Aus den Kirchengesetzbüchern der heutigen Juden geführt," with a preface by Pastor Siegmund Mörl, Nürnberg, 1781.
Lessman, Daniel, was born in Soldin (Brandenburg), 1794, studied medicine in Berlin, was wounded in the war, baptized in 1824, he became a great author, novelist, biographer and poet.
Levi, Jacob, a native of Smyrna, according to the report of Dr. Buchanan, heard the Gospel from a C.M.S. missionary. He then bought a New Testament and studied it with the intention of refuting the arguments of the missionary, and for this purpose he translated it into Hebrew, but the result was that he became a believer and preached Christ to Jews, Mohammedans and Christians.
Levi, Jacob, baptized by the missionaries Lewis and Hartley at Athens, about 1840-1. Was cast into prison by the Rabbis ten times. In the prison at Casanegra, he was bastinadoed and kept six months, but he declared if he was there a thousand years he would still confess that Jesus was the true Messiah.
Levi, Dr. Leone, was born in Ancona, 1802, and settled in England. An article of his in the "Liverpool Album," in 1849, occasioned the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he became secretary. He joined the Presbyterian Church, was author of "Commercial Laws, their Principles and Administration," 1850-52; "Wages and Earnings of the Working Classes," 1867; "History of British Commerce and of the Economic Progress of the British Nation,"1863-70. He became professor of political economy at King's College in 1862; barrister in Lincoln's Inn, 1859; D.L. of Tübingen, 1861: and died in 1888.
Levien, Edward, was born in 1818, of highly respectable Jewish parents, nearly related to the distinguished Goldsmids. His parents returned to the true faith, and were baptized and admitted into the Church of England, with their children, when the latter were yet of tender age. He was educated at Shrewsbury Grammar School, under Drs. Butler and Kennedy, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he took honours in classics. In that department he filled a professor's chair at Glasgow. His great skill in ancient manuscripts, and intimate acquaintance with historical lore commended him, in 1850, to an important post in the MSS. department of the British Museum. This post he held for nearly a quarter of a century, with advantage to the public and credit to himself. He was also honorary secretary of the British Archæological Association, to which he rendered essential service in promoting its prosperity, in various ways, literary and otherwise. His loss to that Association was as keenly felt by their Committee as by his most intimate friends. The catalogue of the British Museum has several pages devoted to his literary productions.
Levinsohn, Hessel, a brother of the next named, who together with his parents had anathematized Isaac on account of his supposed apostasy, was in the first place influenced by him through correspondence, not to pass such a harsh judgment upon himself. Then, when he came to England, he was graduallywon by him and other Hebrew Christians to read the New Testament, and to search the Scriptures earnestly, until he too could publicly confess that Jesus was his own Redeemer. He afterward became a missionary of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Jews.
Levinson, Rev. Isaac, was born in Kovno (Russia), in 1855. His father was a pious man, and used to fast every Monday and Thursday. When Isaac was five years old, his father himself taught him Hebrew, and then sent him to school, where he made rapid progress in learning, so that at the age of eight he could read the Pentateuch with the Targum and Rashi's commentary. Henceforth he studied mostly the Talmud, in which he felt no delight nor even satisfaction, especially when at thirteen years of age he became bar mitsvah (confirmed), and began to realize responsibility for his sins. This caused him to lay aside the doctrines of men, and to study more diligently the Word of God. In 1871 he took leave of his parents, and after much hardship and God's loving care on the journey, arrived in London, September 19th, with the intention to go from there to America or Australia. But just as he landed he was robbed of the little baggage he possessed, and a kind Jew took him to his house, with whom he spent the Day of Atonement. Subsequently he once passed by the L.J.S. Chapel at Palestine Place, and noticed a Hebrew inscription on the front. Thinking it was a synagogue he entered, and was surprised to find that it was a Christian place of worship, where the prayers were saidin Hebrew. He listened to the service, and after it was over, a Hebrew Christian spoke to him, and told him that he had found peace in believing in Jesus as the Messiah. This was exactly what Isaac was searching for. He then made the acquaintance of Dr. Stern, was instructed and baptized by him, and entered the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution. After a time Levinson was for some years a clerk in the R.T.S., where he made good use of his time in preparing himself for studying in Spurgeon's College. He was then ordained to the Baptist ministry, and was engaged by the British Society as deputational secretary, in which capacity he laboured zealously and ably for some years, until he was called to succeed the late Rev. John Dunlop, as chief secretary of the same Society.
Levy, Benjamin, was the son of Moses Levy, one of a well-known firm of shipowners in London. When he was quite a young man he set up in business as a clothier and draper in Holborn. Subsequently he removed to Sunderland, where he spent the last forty-two years of his life; and so greatly did he prosper that he opened branches of his business in Shields, Stockton, Middlesborough, West Hartlepool and Barrow in Furness. His admission by baptism into the Church of Christ took place when he was twenty-six years old. Before then he had drifted away from the moorings of the synagogue, and then soon followed his total neglect of all religious observance, and all belief in the Bible. It was at this crisis in his religious life that he was brought under decidedly Christian influences. He came in contact with a clergyman of the Church of England, who led him toaccept Christ and Him crucified; after which he ever remained a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, and a promoter of Christian work. He became Warden of St. Thomas', Sunderland, for which Church he did a great deal. He was elected member of the Town Council of Bishopwearmouth in 1861, and in 1871 he was made Alderman of the Sunderland Ward; had he lived longer, he would have attained the chief civil dignity there. His funeral was attended by the whole Town Council in its official capacity. He left a family of four sons and five daughters, all of whom were doing well at that time.
Levy, Philip, was converted in England, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. He published an English, Hebrew, and Chaldee Grammar in 1705, at Oxford.
Lewald, Fanny, daughter of a Jewish banker at Königsberg, and born 1811, became a member of the Evangelical Church by baptism in 1828. She is distinguished as a great authoress. Her works comprise twelve vols., six of them under the title, "Meine Lebens Geschichte" (Autobiography), Berlin, 1871-75. She died at the age of 78, in 1889.
Lewis, Dr. de Leno, was editor of "Israel's Watchman," at Baltimore, 1888.
Lichtenstein, George Philipp (Susskind Mayer), was born at Frankfort in 1606, and became a Christian through intercourse with pious Christians, and through hearing Christian hymns.
Lichtenstein, Jacob, the brother of the above, born in 1826, became a more famous pastor and theologian.He published "Das Leben unsers Herrn," Erlangen, 1855; "Prüfet alles und das Gute behaltet," 1870. He died in 1875.
Lichtenstein, Jehiel Zebi (Hershensohn), was born at Jassy, in 1831, and brought up in Bessarabia, among the Chassidim and Kabbalists. Having received a New Testament at Jassy, he studied it diligently, and being convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, he baptized himself in a river in 1855. In 1868, he published a Kabbalistic book, entitled, "Limude hanebiim," in which he tried to show that the teaching of the Kabbalah and of the New Testament are identical. In 1872, he came to London and was baptized by Dr. Stern. He then assisted for a short time Mr. Dworkowicz in Warsaw and Pastor Weber in Neudeklslau. From 1874 to 1879 he laboured as a missionary of the Berlin Society in Berlin. He then was for a time in Russia, whence he went to Leipzig in 1885, where he was afterwards appointed to be one of the tutors at the Institutum Delitzschianum. He is the author, besides the above-mentioned, of the following Hebrew works:—"Chizzuk Emunah Emeth" (A defence of Christianity against the Jewish book "Chizzuk Emunah,") 1879; "Toldoth Jeshua," a refutation of the book under that name, 1883; "A Short Rabbinic Commentary on the whole of the New Testament," published gradually. Lichtenstein also translated the whole of the Old Testament into Yiddish for the British and Foreign Bible Society, of which parts have appeared.
Lichtenstein, Johann Daniel, son of the above, whowas baptized in his youth, became afterwards a very devoted Pastor in Frankfort. It is recorded that he displayed self-sacrificing activity, especially among the sick and the prisoners. He died in 1862, and in allusion to his name "Lightstone," the people said of him that "he was a light which consumed itself."
Lichtenstein, Moritz, born 1824, embraced Christianity in 1842 together with his mother and brothers and sisters. Moritz became a preacher of the Gospel in 1855, and died 1876.
Lichtenstein, Rabbi J., is one of the most remarkable converts to Christianity in the nineteenth century. The story is briefly this: Finding one day a New Testament in the school under his charge, he took it away, and hid it in his library. Then during an anti-Semitic agitation in Hungary he, thinking that there must be something in the teaching of the New Testament, which excited enmity against the Jews, examined it carefully, and was convinced of the contrary, and more, he began to admire and to love the Lord Jesus, and gradually to quote passages from the New Testament in his sermons in the synagogue of Tapio Szele, of which he had been minister for forty years. He also wrote three pamphlets—"Der Talmud auf der Anklage Bank," Budapesth, 1866; "Mein Zeugniss," 1886; "Die Liebe und die Bekehrung, ein sehr ernstes wort zu sehr ernster Zeit." At last some of his congregation accused him to the chief rabbi of Budapest of heterodoxy. Rabbi Lichtenstein then confessed his faith in Jesus Christ crucified. The result was that he had to resign his office, and to the end of his life he lived as a Christian,constantly preaching the Gospel in Pesth though not baptized. He died in the Lord in 1908.
Lipschitz, Benjamin, a convert to Christianity, died 1876, in Vienna, leaving to the inhabitants of his birthplace, Kriegshaber, near Augsburg, 70,000 gulden, to be equally divided between Jews and Christians. Besides this he bequeathed 35,000 gulden to the Jewish Congregation of Augsburg, 100,000 gulden for the Jewish Home at Munich, and 100,000 gulden for the Jewish Home at Vienna.
Lipshytz, Christlieb T., Director of the Barbican Mission to the Jews, London. Born in 1858 at Warsaw, the capital of Poland, he was brought up in strict Judaism, according to the principles of his orthodox Jewish parents. It was essential that he should undergo a Talmudical Jewish training, and in addition he was given a thorough secular education. When he was five years of age, his eldest sister became a Christian, and for this she endured severe persecution. Her testimony made a deep impression on the mind of her brother, and awakened a desire in his heart to know what it was that Christianity really taught. So strong was this desire that while at the secular high school in his native city, he embraced every possible opportunity of listening to the religious instruction given to the Gentile pupils. For this he was chastised by his father, but the severe punishment inflicted was of no avail, for the Spirit of God had directed the message of the Gospel home to his heart, and within a short time he surrendered to the Lord. The bitter persecution through which his sister hadpassed was a vivid and painful memory, and it is not surprising that Lipshytz hesitated to incur the same suffering by making a public confession in his native place. Eventually he went away to Königsberg. Here, after a course of instruction by a missionary of the London Jews' Society (Mr. Skolkowski) and the Rev. Konsistorialrath Dr. Kahle, he was baptized on the 19th October, 1878. After further study and preparation he worked under the auspices of the home mission in the North of Germany, and afterwards in connexion with the mission among Jews in the West of Germany. Coming to England, Mr. Lipshytz was for some time superintendent of the Wanderers' Home, under the direction of the late Rev. J. M. Eppstein. At the close of 1887 he became assistant missionary to the Rev. Paul Warschawski. When the latter relinquished the mission on account of failing health, the work was in danger of coming to an untimely end. At this crisis Prebendary Gordon Calthrop, who became the first President, called together a number of friends, with the result that Mr. Lipshytz was asked to undertake the re-organization of the work. After prayerful consideration, the invitation was accepted. For two years and a-half the mission was housed in London Wall, thence a removal was made to larger premises in Finsbury Square, which were occupied for seven years. From the first, Mr. Lipshytz exercised remarkable tact and ability, and it became increasingly evident that under his able direction the mission was destined to become a powerful agency in proclaiming the Gospel to theJews and winning their allegiance to Christ. Prebendary Gordon Calthrop had now passed to his rest, and Archdeacon Sinclair succeeded as President, to be followed after a time by Prebendary H. W. Webb-Peploe, a life-long friend of Israel. With his unfailing energy and enthusiasm, Mr. Lipshytz set about raising a memorial to the memory of the first President of the mission, and in this he had from the first the hearty co-operation of the devoted men who formed his council. The outcome was the erection of the perfectly equipped and commodious headquarters of the Barbican Mission situated on the main thoroughfare of Whitechapel, and known as "The Gordon Calthrop Memorial," which was dedicated and opened in the spring of 1901. Besides the mission house and church, the property includes a spacious open-air preaching ground, with a stone pulpit. The entire scheme involved an outlay of £13,000, the whole of which sum was soon raised. Having succeeded in this matter, Mr. Lipshytz realized the necessity for providing a Home for Converts and Enquirers, and a permanent residence for the head of the mission. This he was also able to accomplish, and the Home at Mitcham, which cost £3,500, was soon freed from debt. With all his undertakings Mr. Lipshytz was careful to see that the spiritual work of the mission was not neglected. "First things" were given first place: hence the mission abundantly prospered in his hands.
Löbel, Carl Friedrich Raphael, a native of Lissa, in Prussian Poland, was baptized by PastorHasselman in Soran, in 1825. He studied Pedagogy, became a very effective schoolmaster, and wrote:— "Gebete für die Schule," 1836; "Erklärungen der Episteln," 1859. He founded a Rescue Home, and died in 1869.
Lobgott, Abraham Meyer (sometimes called Gottlob), a native of Posen, was instructed and baptized by Pastor Schultz in Berlin in 1769. He studied theology in Halle. He translated Elias Levita's "Massoreth ha Massorah," which Dr. Semler published in 1773. He also translated the first three chapters of Mendelssohn's Judæo-German Pentateuch into German, Erlangen, 1786. He published in 1775, during the time of his studies, "Sententiae Rabb. de successione ab intestato et testimentaria collectae a R. Joseph Karo" (Schulchan Aruch).
Lopes, Sir Manasseh Massey, Bart., was born in Jamaica in 1755, and died 1838. He belonged to the Sephardim Jews. Both he and his father Mordecai Rodriguez Lopes embraced Christianity in 1802. In that year Manasseh was returned to Parliament as member for New Romney and was created a baronet in 1805. At the next election, he was returned as member for Barnstaple, and lastly, for Westbury, where he held also the office of Recorder, in addition to being a magistrate for two counties.
Lotka, Rev. J., a native of Russian Poland, where he was brought up by his parents in strict orthodoxy, but as he arrived at the age of discretion, he somehow managed to study, besides Hebrew and the Talmud,the Polish and the German languages. Becoming acquainted with much Christian literature he had a great desire to read the New Testament, and this led him to give up the position of a Jewish teacher and to come to London for the purpose of receiving further Christian instruction by Dr. Ewald, who baptized him on November 22, 1863. About two years later he went from the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution to Basel, studied theology, and was sent out to labour as a Pastor among the Germans in Illinois, U.S.A. In 1879 he was appointed Professor of Hebrew in an Episcopal Seminary near Chicago, where he did also missionary work among the Jews. In 1872, he joined the L.J.S. and was sent to Lemberg, where he laboured for ten years, and visited many towns in Galicia. In 1881, after he had been on a tour of enquiry with the Rev. Frederick Smith in the Crimea, he was sent to Persia, where he remained from two to three years, and laid, so to speak, a solid foundation for the revived mission there. He subsequently laboured for a few years at Posen and Bucharest, and much longer in Birmingham, and then succeeded the Rev. J. C. S. Kroenig at Hull. He was the author of several tracts.
Löwe, H. G. F., a Hebrew Christian living in Hamburg. With a view to make known, both to Jews, and Christians, the nature of rabbinic Judaism, he wrote the following works:—1. A translation of the first chapter of Berachoth (Benedictions), with preface, introduction, and three appendices, 1836. 2. Atranslation of four parts of the Shulchan Aruch Aben Ezra, Hoshen Hamishpat, Orach Hayim and Yoreh Deah, 1836-1840.
Löwen, Moses Gotthold (Pseudon, Hananiah Berliner), was born August 8, 1859, just at the time when his father, dressed in mourning, was sitting on the floor in the synagogue, bewailing the destruction of Jerusalem. When the father returned home, a near relative presented him with his firstborn son. His parents educated him after the manner of orthodox Jews, and he studied diligently the Talmud and the "Shulchan Aruch," but very little the Old Testament. When the boy was fifteen years of age, he was employed by the rabbi of Sombar, in Galicia, as a copyist, and for this he received from him instruction in rabbinical writings, in the Bible, and in religious philological literature. This distinguished savant, Joshua Hullas by name, was liberal-minded and exercised a salutary influence upon the boy. Later on he perceived the untenableness of the rabbinic views of the world, and gave up the idea of becoming a rabbi as his parents wished. He then devoted himself to commerce, but found no pleasure in it. Then he met the Rev. J. Lotka, missionary of the L.J.S. at Lemberg, and for the first time learned to know the New Testament and other Christian literature; and after an inward struggle, lasting ten years, in which the late Professor Franz Delitzsch encouraged him to persevere, he threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and became His faithful disciple. He was admitted into the Church of Christ by baptism, by the Rev. P. E. Gottheil,in Stuttgart, in 1886. Two years later he entered the service of the Berlin Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, under whom for years he laboured with great blessing upon his efforts. Löwen's work was mostly of a literary character. In 1888, he wrote a useful booklet in Yiddish, entitled "Siach l'Elohim," through which he introduced the jargon of the Eastern Jews into Christian literature. A year later he joined Chr. Theophilus Lucky, in editing the Hebrew monthly periodical, "Eduth l'Israel." This was and remained the first Jewish Christian periodical in the sacred language. He worked at this difficult post for only two years, but continued in co-operation with Professor Dalman for fifteen years in the publication of his monthly Yiddish periodical, "Berith Am." He also contributed numerous articles, poems, narratives, etc., to "Nathanael" and to "Messiasbote," publications of the Berlin Society. On Löwen's suggestion, the International Jewish Missionary Conference at Leipzig in 1897, resolved to offer a prize for a life of Christ in Yiddish. Amongst the competitors was the well-known Joseph Rabinowitz, but the umpires, Professor Strack and the Rev. A. Bernstein, adjudged the prize to Löwen's work, which is entitled "Podeh Umazil," which has found great acceptance among the Jews. In 1901 a collection of essays appeared from his pen, under the title, "Brod und Salz" (bread and salt), which was gladly read. He also brought out a series of booklets entitled "Orchim," which was of the greatest missionary value. Löwen was stationed in Berlin, Lemberg,Posen, and Vienna, where he continued to testify to the Jews of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and the Lord crowned his work with success, in that he was permitted to witness a spirit of enquiry among the Jews, not a few of whom acknowledged Him as their Lord and Saviour through his labours.
Löwenthal, Rev. Isidor, a native of Posen, where he received a liberal education, finishing his studies at the Gymnasium at the age of seventeen. His father wished him to enter into business, but he had no taste for such a life. With companions of the same age, he founded a liberal political union, and owing to a poem of a radical character, which he recited in public, he was arrested by the police. For this reason he emigrated to New York in 1846. On his arrival he tried to get employment, but failed. He was then obliged to become a pedlar. One cold November day he offered his goods to the Rev. S. M. Gayley, of Wilmington, Delaware, who, noticing his poor plight, invited him to his house, where in conversation he soon learned that Löwenthal was well educated. He then offered him hospitality until he should find a situation as teacher of German and French. This he procured for him in Fayette College at Easton, Pa., in 1847. There Löwenthal was indefatigable in his studies of the English language and literature. His iron will and his excellent memory enabled him soon to overcome all difficulties. Hitherto he had not revealed to Mr. Gayley his Jewish nationality, but now he not onlydid this but also told him that the family prayers and the services which he had attended had led him to study the Scriptures, and that he was convinced of the truth of Christianity. He was then baptized by Mr. Gayley in the Presbyterian Church. In 1848 he became teacher of languages at Mount Holly Collegiate School, where he remained several years. Mr. Philipps, of the First Presbyterian Church, New York, advised him to study for the ministry, and he entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey in 1852. During his course there he contributed articles to the "Biblical Repository." When about to leave the Seminary, he gave a lecture on Indian missions and then offered his services to the Board of Foreign Missions. The Board sent him in 1856 to Afghanistan. He acquired the language in one year, so that he could preach in it fluently; but he was only permitted to labour there seven years. During this short time he translated the whole of the New Testament in Pushtu and printed it, and compiled a dictionary of that language which he left in manuscript. He preached easily in five languages, and none knew the East better than he did. He possessed the largest collection of Asiatic MSS. and rare books that ever was the lot of a European. He was beloved by the natives and Europeans alike. Sir John Lawrence, especially during the mutiny, consulted him as a friend. He preached uninterruptedly in Afghanistan and in the Khyber Pass. At the last, he was shot dead by his own servant, it is said through a mistake, who, seeing himwalking on the roof at night, took him for a thief. This was in 1864, when he was only thirty-eight.
Lowitz, Rev. J., laboured for years as a missionary of the British Society at Algiers, where he also acted as agent for the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1872 he succeeded Davidsohn as principal of the British Society's Home for Converts and Enquirers, at 28, Alfred Place, Bedford Square, London.
Lucky, Rev. C. Theophilus, a native of Tisminitz, in Galicia, and a most remarkable convert to Christianity in the nineteenth century. He was known not only as a great Hebrew scholar, writing Hebrew in classical style as a living language, and as thoroughly conversant with the whole range of Jewish literature, but also as possessing a wide knowledge of Christian literature. Having studied at the Berlin University and High School for the knowledge of Judaism, and making researches in philosophical and religious subjects, he was led to become a believer. Lucky received Evangelical ordination in New York. In 1887 he first published a Hebrew periodical, "Eduth le Israel," which he continued for some years, when he returned to Galicia and took up his residence in Stanislau. There he lived and laboured among his brethren, preaching by the written and spoken word, but above all by his example, scarcely receiving any help from men. He was a living illustration of a Hebrew Christian of the first century; though thoroughly Orthodox as to the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, yet he believed that it was incumbent upon him toobserve the Jewish Sabbath and all other Jewish festivals and the dietary laws, not for the sake of being justified by the works of the law, but for the sake of satisfying his own conscience, and that he might be more useful as an evangelist amongst his brethren in Galicia.
Maas, Dr. M., was a teacher at Breslau in the nineteenth century, and wrote the following works, advocating amalgamation of the Jews with Christians: "Die Sociale Stellung der Juden in Deutschland und das Ceremonial Gesetz," Löbau, 1876; "Die Mischehe das Einzig wirksame mittel einer dauernden Vereinigung zwischen der jüdischen und christlichen Bevölkerung Deutschland's," ib.
Mackhan, Beatus Christian (Nehemiah Cohen), after having travelled in three continents, and held the office of Rabbi at Avignon embraced Christianity, in the Baltic Provinces in 1672. In 1690 he published in the German language: "Schriftmässiger Jesus—Palmbaum oder Klarer Beweissthum wider die Juden, dass Jesus der wahre Messias sei" (Riga), Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebraica 3. N., 1648.
Magath, Rev. Julius, some time after his baptism became Professor in the Wesleyan College in Oxford (Georgia, U.S.A.) Later on he was requested by the Conference to do missionary work among the Jews. In 1886 he published a periodical entitled, "The Hebrew Missionary," and this was changed in 1888 to "The Hebrew Messenger." He also translated a treatise, written by the Roman Catholic Jewish convertM. M. Leman, entitled, "Jesus before the Sanhedrin," 1887.
Maimuny, Rabbi Mordecai, was born at Bona, Algeria, in 1817. His father was a well-to-do goldsmith, who had settled in Tunis in 1823, where Maimuny received a strict rabbinical education. When Dr. Ewald was stationed at Tunis, Maimuny was his great opponent and used to blaspheme the name of Jesus. Later on he went to Jerusalem, where his fanaticism became more excited when he observed the activity of Bishop Alexander. However, the bishop's calm and gentle disposition made a great impression upon him, and he received a Hebrew New Testament, which he studied diligently and became a changed man. His wife seeing that he visited Nicolayson and the other missionaries was very angry with him. To pacify her, and in the hope that she would change her mind, he left Jerusalem with her, and they wandered through Asia, North Africa, and Europe, and then returned to Jerusalem, where he had to undergo great persecution, and was obliged to return to his native place. Finally, in 1853, he was baptized by the Scotch missionary, the Rev. Benjamin Weiss.
Mamlock, L. C, a native of Kalisch, was instructed and baptized by Dr. Ewald in 1863. After being in the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution for some considerable time, Dr. Ewald employed him as his assistant, and he became a parochial lay reader. Subsequently he was appointed by the L.J.S. as missionary in Manchester, and was transferred to Paris after the Franco-German war. There helaboured faithfully the rest of his life, spreading the Gospel far and wide during several exhibitions, and had the privilege to see many sons and daughters trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation.
Marcus, Moses, born in London, 1701, was sent by his father to Hamburg for his education. There he had intercourse with Christians, read the New Testament, and came to a saving knowledge of the truth. In 1721 his father returned to England from India, where he had amassed a fortune, and summoned him to come home. Marcus then told his father of his religious convictions, when the latter was shocked, and threatened to disinherit him if he should be baptized; he once even threw a long knife at him. Marcus, however, persevered and was baptized in 1723. In 1724 he wrote a pamphlet entitled, "Principal Motives to leave the Jewish Faith." In defence of Christianity, against the then prevalent rationalism, he translated into English the second part of Dr. J. Gottlob Carpzov's "Critica Sacra," adding his own notes (London, 1729).
Marcusohn, Rev. J. W., was sent by the Scotch Church as a missionary to Constantinople, at the request of the American Board of Missions, in 1859. He subsequently preached the Gospel to the Jews in the United States of America.
Margoliouth, Ezekiel, was a very remarkable man, a typical Jew, and a typical convert to Christianity. As an Hebraist he was equal to any of his day. He had a profound knowledge of the Talmud, rare evenamongst Talmudists. It was, however, in the composition of modern Hebrew that his chief talent lay, and competent scholars often spoke enthusiastically of the elegance of his rabbinic writings. Like his namesake, Dr. Moses Margoliouth, he was a native of Suwalki in Poland, where he was born in November 1816. His father, Abraham, had been thirty-three years chief rabbi of the town, and his mother could trace twelve rabbis amongst her ancestors. It was natural that Ezekiel should study the Talmud and practise all the precepts of the rabbis with the utmost vigour. After he had become bar mitzvah, he studied with his father, and later on went to Brody, in order to perfect himself in rabbinic lore. There he met enlightened Jews, and often disputed with R. Solomon Kluger. He began to study the Bible, and philosophical works in Hebrew, like those of Maimonides; his desire for knowledge being fostered under Michael Perl of Tarnopol, the first Jewish reformer in Galicia. Later on he went to the rabbinical seminary at Warsaw, where he first met missionaries of the L.J. Society, through whom he was irresistibly drawn to Christ, His Person, and His teachings. At the age of twenty-seven he confessed faith in Christ as his Saviour, though his wife, whom he had married the previous year, for a long time refused to become a Christian. He then came over to England, where she afterwards joined him, and in 1848, also became a Christian. In the same year he entered the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution to learn bookbinding. In 1852 he was appointed a missionary of the L.J.S. inLondon, and worked as such almost to the end of his life. It was not as a popular preacher that he excelled, though his faith in, and knowledge of, the Word of God always profoundly attracted his audiences. His chief labours were literary, and in these he had no rival. His "Derech Emunah" and "Nethivoth Olam," in Hebrew, are masterpieces. His greatest work was the revision of the New Testament in Hebrew in 1865. On May 2, 1894, he passed away in a gentle and peaceful death, greatly mourned both for himself and for the loss of his learning and piety. His son is the Rev. Professor David S. Margoliouth, D.Lit., Laudian Professor of Arabic at Oxford University, and examining chaplain to the Bishop of Liverpool.
Margoliouth, Rev. George, a nephew of Dr. Moses Margoliouth, was converted to Christianity at Strassburg. He studied philology at the University of Bonn, and theology at Cuddesdon College, was ordained in 1881-1883, held the curacy of St. Thomas', Leeds, when he was also missionary of the Parochial Missions to the Jews; then at Carleton, Yorks., 1883-84; then again missionary curate of Holy Trinity, Stepney, 1884-87; then at St. Mary the Less, Cambridge, 1887-89; St. Botolph, Cambridge, 1889-91, when he took his degree in Semitic languages, at Queen's College. He is the author of "Descriptive List of the Hebrew and Samaritan MSS. in the British Museum," 1893; "The Superlinear Punctuation," 1893; "The Liturgy of the Nile, Palestinian, Syriac and English," 1896; "The Palestinian Syriac Version of Holy Scripture, four recently Discovered Portions," 1896. He alsocontributed valuable articles to the "Jewish Quarterly Review."
Margoliouth, Rev. Dr. Moses, was born at Suwalki in 1820, and died in London, 1881. He was no relation to Ezekiel Margoliouth, though from the same town. Coming to Liverpool in 1837 he met the missionaries of the L.J.S., Lazarus and Rev. H. S. Joseph, and as a result of intercourse with them he was baptized in 1838. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1840, and became curate of St. Augustine, Liverpool, January 30, 1844. Much later he was curate of St. Paul's, Onslow Square, London, and lastly, Vicar of Little Limford, Buckinghamshire. He took the degree of Ph.D. at Erlangen in 1857. In 1847 he started a Hebrew Christian monthly magazine entitled, "The Star of Jacob." In the seventies he was editor of "The Hebrew Christian Witness." He also wrote the following works, all published in London: "Modern Judaism" (1843), "The History of the Jews of Great Britain" (1851), "A Pilgrimage to the Land of my Fathers" (1855), "The Curates of Riverdale"(1860), "The Spirit of Prophecy" (1864), "The Poetry of the Hebrew Pentateuch" (1871). Margoliouth was one of the revisers of the English version of the Old Testament. He wrote also a considerable number of minor works.
Margoliouth, Naphtali, baptized in 1603 under the name of Konrad Otto, became professor of Hebrew in Altorf. He wrote "Grammatica Hebraica" (Nurnberg, 1605), a part of a "Dictionarium radicale" of rabbinic and Talmudic words, "Gale Razia or Revelatio arcanorum ex Daniel ii. 29," in Latin and German.
Markheim, H. A., was one of the most gifted missionaries of the L.J.S. in the nineteenth century. As a great linguist he suitably occupied the following stations: In 1840, he succeeded Lewis at Smyrna; in 1850, he laboured at Oran and Tangier; in 1860, at Gibraltar; in 1863, at Turin; from 1861-63, at Marseilles, and then until the siege of Paris by the Germans, he laboured there. He died in 1889.
Mariawas born of English Jewish parents, in affluent circumstances. When yet a child she fell down a steep flight of stairs and seriously injured her spine, so that she became a permanent invalid. A Christian lady used to visit her, and got permission to read to her the Psalms. She asked her father to buy her a Bible, who instead of doing so bought her some narratives, but seeing her disappointment, complied with her request. From this Bible, which contained the New Testament, she learned to know and to love the Saviour, believing that Jesus made a perfect atonement for her sins. Becoming gradually feebler and losing her sight, she said to Miss P. that she enjoyed great tranquillity of mind, and had learned to understand Isaiah xxvi. 3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee." Prayer was never a weariness to her. She influenced her sister to read to her the Bible. She then bore witness from her sick bed to the faith which was the source of her calm resignation and happiness before those friends, both Jews and Gentiles, who visited her. When her life drew to a close, she said to her father: "Dear father, I have one request to make; remember! it ismy dying request, the last favour I shall ever ask you, father." With much kindness he enquired, "What is it, my dear?" "It is, father, that you will consent to my baptism." "No, Maria, I cannot do that, you were born a Jewess and you must die one." "Father! that is impossible, for I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus is the Saviour and without Him we should perish everlastingly." She then explained that by being a Christian she had not ceased to be a Jewess. She was then permitted to receive both sacraments from the curate of the parish. Before her death she said to her brother: "My dear brother, be good, and never, never despise the Messiah Jesus Christ. I am going to heaven, and may I not hope to meet you there? I have prayed for you and all my family, and it is my belief the Lord will answer my prayers, and shew His salvation to you all." (Jewish Intelligence, October, 1841).
Marks, J. D., a convert was at first in 1819. It was owing to his influence that a missionary society in Switzerland was founded. This is emphasized in a letter from Basel to the L.J.S. in 1820, whose missionary he then was. At that time there seems to have been an important movement among the Jews of Frankfort and its neighbourhood towards Christianity, in which he was to some extent instrumental, and the result was that in three years ninety Jews embraced Christianity. He died as missionary at Offenbach in 1841.
Marks, Rev. John Ebenezer, D.D., of Canterbury, 1879, laboured as a missionary at Moulmein, India,1863-67; as Chaplain at Rangoon, 1867-68; Irrawaddy, 1869 and 1876-83; Mandalay, 1869-76; Tavoy and Mergui, 1883; as missionary of the S.P.G. and Principal of St. John's College, Rangoon, from 1876-96.
Marx, Adolf Bernard, was born in Halle in 1779. From his youth he was very fond of music, and Handel's "Messiah" led him to become a Christian. His father, though indifferent to religion, was very angry with him, and he was obliged to prosecute his studies of law and music under great deprivations. He finally became a judge at Wittemberg, but he had more taste for music than for the law. He then relinquished his office and went to Berlin, and devoted himself entirely to the study of music. He made there the acquaintance of the English musician Logier, and got from him some new ideas, which he was not slow to put into practice. In 1837, he published a work on the principles of harmony. He did much for the proper understanding of Beethoven, Sebastian Bach, and Glück. He is said to have been the founder of modern musical literature. He died in 1866.
Marx, Karl, born at Treves, in 1818. He was baptized with his father, his brother, and five sisters in 1824. In 1842, he became editor of "Reinische Zeitung für Politik, Handel, und Gewerbe." In 1843, he published at Paris, "Zür Kritik der Hegelschen Rechts Philosophie." In 1848 he edited the "Neue Rheinische Zeitung." He is known as the founder of the political theory called Socialism, and on account of that he came in conflict with several governments, and he sought refuge in England. He married the sisterof the minister, von Westphal. She died in 1881, and he also passed away in 1883, in London.
Massena.All that is known about him is a tract, published at Strassburg, in 1859, entitled "Massena ein Wahrer Israelite oder die Kraft Gottes."
Massiah, Rev. J. P., was curate of Holy Trinity, Stepney, in 1883, when he received some Jews into the Church.
Mathai(Shimon), Adam Rudolf George Christoph, was born at Fürth, Germany in 1715, and was instructed in the Talmud by his father Jaidel, a teacher in the Beth-hamedrash there. At the age of sixteen, he went to Prague to continue his studies, and on returning home he, too, became a Talmudic teacher. Just then he narrates, in the preface of his "Description of the Jewish Sabbath": "When I considered the corruption among my people, doubts arose in my mind about the rabbinic system of religion, and I began to study its doctrines, rites and ceremonies, and found that they did not agree with the Word of God." The name Jeshua sar happanim, in the service for the New Year, struck him as very mysterious, and he began to enquire as to which of the angels this name referred. At last, after long enquiry, he became convinced of the divine origin of Christianity and applied to a pastor in Fürth for baptism in 1748. However, on account of the commotion created among the Jews, he went to Nürnberg, where he was baptized the same year.
Matthews, Rev. Aaron, after embracing Christianity with his wife, was appointed a missionary of the BritishSociety in London in 1867, where he laboured successfully for some years. Then he accepted a call to be minister of a Baptist Chapel in Liverpool, which position he only held for a few years. Then he opened a mission to the Jews at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and afterwards laboured amongst them in Glasgow with considerable blessing on his labours, attracting the Jews by his fervent and devotional spirit as well as his Hebrew learning.
Mayer, Samuel Morum, was born in 1797 at Friedenthal; and died in 1862. His father was a rabbi, his grandfather was appointed by King Friedrich grand rabbi, who gave the grandson a good Jewish education, so that at the age of ten he could repeat the Psalter in Hebrew with Mendelssohn's translation. A pastor also privately taught him classics. He was then sent to a Talmud School, but the Talmud did not satisfy his thirst for useful, solid knowledge, so he sent a petition to the King asking for permission to enter the Gymnasium. This was granted in 1815. He studied there and subsequently became a celebrated lawyer. Government offices were offered him on condition of his embracing Christianity, which he repeatedly refused, but held a professorship unconditionally. However, he investigated the doctrines of Christianity himself, and was baptized in 1834. He was then persecuted by his relations, but he rendered them good for evil. The following is a list of his works in their chronological order; with one exception they were published at Nürnberg. "Beschreibung des Jüdischen Sabbath,"1750; "Die Verderbniss des heutigen Judenthums," 1752; "Beschreibung des Jüdischen Neujahrfestes," 1755; "Beschreibung des Jüdischen Purimfestes," 1758; "Beschreibung des Jüdischen Yom Kippur," 1760; "Sammlung Talmudisches Lehrsätze," Schwabach, 1763; "Abhandlung von der Verleumdung," 1765; "Sendschreiben an Rabbi Peloni aus der Stadt Lo-Theda," 1766; "Kurzgefaste Talmudische Lehrsätze von der Nothwendigkeit sich in den Ehestand zu begeben," no date; "Beweis von der Uebereinstimmung der alten Israelitischen Kabbalah mit der Lehre des Apostel Paulus," no date; "Beweisgrunde von der Uebereinstimmung der Altjüdischen Lehre mit der Lehre der Christen," 1770; "Kristliche gesinnte Erklärung der Kabbalisten über das Hohelied," 1776.
Mayer, Rev. W., was educated both in the school and college of the L.J.S. in London. In 1855, he succeeded his brother-in-law, the Rev. A. I. Behrens, at Jassy, where he was assistant missionary for some time previously. He had there a most flourishing school, containing about 300 scholars. Mayer, who was a very intellectual man, was somewhat affected by the criticism on the Bible by Bishop Colenso, and he also was of the opinion that the Jews ought to have their own Christian Church. This led to his severance from the Society. He, however, remained in Jassy all his life, and revised the Roumanian Bible for the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Mendelssohn, Abraham, second son of Moses Mendelssohn the philosopher, was born in Berlin in1779. In 1804, he married Leah, a sister of Jacob Levi Solomon Bartholdi. The latter having become a Protestant Christian in 1805, influenced his sister and brother-in-law to follow his example. Whilst his father had resisted the arguments and persuasion of Lavater to take this step, he declared:—"Formerly I was the son of my father, now I am the father of my son." Accordingly, he had his children—Felix, Fanny, Rebecca, and Paul—baptized in the Evangelical Church, under the additional name of Bartholdi.
Mendelssohn, Dorothea, a daughter of the philosopher Felix, became a Protestant in Paris in 1802.
Mendelssohn, Felix Bartholdi, was born at Hamburg, February 3, 1809, and died 1857. When he was four years old his parents removed to Berlin. His father at once procured teachers in music for him, as he had begun thus early to show great talent in that direction. His teachers on the piano were Louis Bezer, and Zelter, the friend of Goethe. The chapel choirmaster, Mr. Hennings, gave him instruction on the violin. The father of the poet, Paul Heyse, who later became the celebrated philologist, was his private tutor in the home of the Mendelssohns, where the intellectual aristocracy of Berlin frequently assembled. When Felix was nine years old he appeared for the first time at a public concert, where his remarkable performances won him great applause. Two years later, we find him in a Berlin Musical Academy, where he studied church music under Zelter's direction. When he was twelve years old, Zelter placed him in the Olympic in Weimar, where he made remarkable progress. When he wasfourteen, we find him a guest at Goethe's house, and his host wrote thus to Zelter:—"Felix's productions astonish everybody." No one was more delighted at the boy's success than his father, who took pride in gratifying his son's every wish regarding his musical education, and the latter's diligence amply rewarded any outlay. Before Felix was out of his teens he had written four operas. His father accompanied him to Paris, where he had the education of the best teachers of the time. Soon after he went to London, where he wrote an original overture founded upon Shakespere's "Midsummer Night's Dream," which attracted the attention of the celebrated singer, Henrietta Sonntag, and won a great triumph for its composer—he was then twenty years old. He became a member of a Philharmonic Society. He spent some time in Rome, where he composed "Die Walpinges nacht," and arranged the one hundred and fifteenth psalm to music. He also visited Naples. This Italian town made a lasting impression upon his mind. He played before many of the crowned heads of Europe. King Frederick William IV. of Prussia was greatly interested in the young composer, and employed him to write the music for the "Tragedy of Sophocles." His success greatly excited the jealousy of the older musicians, but the King became his dearest friend. Mendelssohn played in 1841 before Queen Victoria. He thus described the occasion in a letter to his "dear little mother." "I asked Prince Albert, the Queen's husband, to play something on the organ for me. He complied. His playing—so beautifuland perfect—many an organist might have envied him. Then I played and sang my chorus from "St. Paul," "How beautiful are the messengers." When I had finished the first stanza, the Queen and Prince Albert joined in the singing. The Queen asked if I had any new compositions; if so, she would gladly have them printed. We went into her salon, where there was a piano. I played and sang again. She praised my playing and singing, and when I bade them adieu said: 'I hope you will soon visit us in England again.'" This brilliant career was speedily cut short. The death of his dearly beloved sister Fanny, in the spring of 1847, affected him seriously. All his compositions thereafter were melancholy. He became nervous and irritable. He could not apply himself to his work, but would sit for hours with his hands folded. After a brief illness he died on November 4, 1857, when he was only thirty-six. Three days after, he was carried to his grave by the side of his sister Fanny Hensel, in Trinity Cemetery, Berlin. Felix Mendelssohn was a favourite of the German people—a musical genius like Weber and Schubert. He put his whole life and soul into his work. His early death confirms Neander's words—also a Hebrew Christian—"Whom the gods love die young." God gave him a musical gift, which he delighted to use for His glory.
Mendelssohn, Henrietta, daughter of the banker, Alexander Mendelssohn, was baptized in Berlin in 1822.
Mendelssohn, Nathan, the third son of Moses Mendelssohn, was born in 1782. In 1809, he was baptizedby the Reformed Pastor Petiscus, assuming the name of Carl Theodor Nathanael Mendelssohn. He became a mechanic by profession, and was at the head of a large industry in Silesia. He was a sincere Christian, and took an interest in missionary work among the Jews. He requested the missionaries of the L.J.S. in 1826 to supply him with Bibles for distribution among his workmen. He died in Berlin in 1852.
Mensor, Rev. Dr. Meyer, studied theology in Berlin, where he received the degree of D.D. in 1846. He was subsequently chief rabbi of Chicago. After embracing Christianity, he was ordained by the Archbishop of York in 1861-2. After holding several curacies in the North of England, he was appointed Vicar of Stoke Mandeville in 1879, where he preached the Gospel for many years, and took a great interest in missions to the Jews.
Meyer, Friedrich Christian, born in Hamburg in the second half of the seventeenth century, died in Belgium about 1738. After having been baptized at Bremen, he became a missionary and travelled for thirty years. He was the author of the following works: (1) "Licht zu Erleuchten die Juden," exalting the glory of Christ (Leipzig, 1711). (2) "Meirath Enayim," a pamphlet written in German, in which the author drew a parallel between Moses and Christ, shewing the supremacy of the latter (Amsterdam, 1713). (3) "Der Abscheuliche Mord Christi," in which he endeavoured to demonstrate that the duration of the exile of the Jews can be attributedonly to the Crucifixion of our Lord, Hamburg, 1719. (4) "Vera Immanuelis Generatio," written in Hebrew, and demonstrating the Deity of Jesus from the prophets, especially from Isaiah vii. 14.
Meyer, Hermann Edward, was born in Gross Glogau in Germany, 1796, and converted in 1817; he studied in Halle, and became professor of law and philology in Greifswald and in Halle. He wrote mostly about Greek laws, "Attischen Process," Halle, 1824. In 1828 he became editor of the "Allgemeine Literatur Zeitung," and especially contributed to the "Allgemeine Encyklopædie" of Ersch and Grüber. He died in 1855.
Meyer, Rev. Jonas Theodor, was born in Crivitz, a small town in Mecklenberg, January 30, 1819, and died in New Jersey, March 14, 1896. His early Hebrew education he received from a Polish Jew in the Cheder, and then he was sent to relatives in Schwerin, where he studied in the Gymnasium, so that at the age of fifteen he was in the first class. As far as religion is concerned, he was taught to fear God, but he knew very little of the love of God, so that he only lived to appease the divine wrath by ascetic practices and good works. This did not satisfy his soul, and he resorted to worldly pleasures, but neither did he find satisfaction in them. At this juncture he met with the writings of R. S. Hirsch, the then leader of orthodoxy, and with those of mystic Plessner, which awakened him somewhat from his spiritual slumber. He then began to study the Scriptures, and trusted to God's grace and mercy for the pardon of his sins, yethe found no peace. Thereupon he came in contact with Dr. Holdheimer, the leader of the Reformed Jews, and by him was appointed teacher in Schwerin, in 1841, and subsequently recommended as Reformed rabbi to a congregation in Butzow. But the Reform movement at that time went to extremes. The rabbis denied the belief in the Messiah at a congress, from which Meyer dissented. He was placed in a predicament between the extremes of Orthodoxy and Reform, in neither of which he could observe vital religion, so he began to study the New Testament. At first only its sublime ethics attracted him, but by and by it was the Person and life of Christ which drew him by the Holy Spirit to Himself. Then he met the missionary Dr. Schwarz, and from him he heard the Gospel, and attended the lectures of Neander on Galatians, and those of Hengstenberg, on the history of the kingdom of God, on the Old Testament, and on its Christology, and was baptized by Dr. Schwarz, July 18, 1847. In 1848 he left the University of Berlin and went to Scotland, and studied theology at the College of the Free Church at Aberdeen. Afterwards he became assistant Professor of Hebrew to Dr. Duncan in New College, Edinburgh. In 1857 he was ordained by Dr. Candish to do ministerial work among the Germans in Edinburgh. In 1858 he was sent as a missionary to the Jews in Galatz, Roumania, whence he was transferred in 1862 to Ancona, Italy. From there he was sent in 1867 to Amsterdam, to succeed Dr. Schwarz, who went to London. In 1871 he was requested by the English Presbyterians to take chargeof their mission in London, in which he laboured ardently and successfully until his retirement in 1894.
Mollis, Rev. M. L., thus writes of himself:—"I was born in Russia of Jewish parents, and in the heart of Talmudical study, zeal for traditional observances, and great orthodoxy. My education was therefore thoroughly Jewish, and I sincerely and firmly believed in all I was taught, both at home and in school, as being the commandments of God, and that in the keeping of them there was great reward.
"Thus far a good foundation was laid, in which I gloried and thanked God that I was born a Jew and well brought up and instructed in the holy law of God and the prophets, and, moreover, in the Oral Law and the teaching of the wise men in Israel.
"I may also add here that I was likewise taught several modern languages, and received a fair secular education. For this I have to thank several members of my family at home, who cherished some higher plans in reference to my future career. My father and mother were dead, and it had been their desire that I should learn the banking business when I was old enough. This was not to my taste, and after trying it for awhile, I left home, and went first to Odessa and then to Roumania to visit my uncle. I did not stop very long with him, but left the country and went eastward.
"It was during my travels abroad that I first came into contact with Jewish missionaries, and heard of Jesus Christ. I had not read the New Testament before, or even heard of such a book, as far as I cannow remember. I was therefore perfectly ignorant of Christianity, and knew nothing of the Gospel. Of course, I heard at home of Russian and Roman Catholic Christianity, but I was a Jew and forbidden to enquire into their religion, or to read their books. One thing, however, I remember, made some impression upon me, and that occurred when I was in Odessa. I saw there some Germans who were Lutherans, and noticed how different they were in their lives and manners from other people around them, but I never enquired where the change came from. And so it was at first when I heard of the missionaries, for I really did not quite know their religion and what they were teaching. I went one day out of curiosity to hear one of them read and expound some chapters on Isaiah the prophet. But when the reader asserted that Jesus Christ was the true Messiah, I felt indignant and strongly opposed him. It was an insult, I thought, to suppose that the Jews were in error in regard to Jesus of Nazareth, that the Christians were right, and that our holy religion was inferior to Christianity. I visited, however, the missionary several times afterwards, and argued with him. In the meantime the New Testament was put into my hands, and I was requested to read it. I did so, but I did not relish it, because of the Deity ascribed therein to Jesus Christ. This was the crucial point with me at the time. Still, I continued to read the New Testament; but, I confess it with shame, I often threw the book away from me, or dropped it down on the ground.
"Thus for two years the struggle went on, but I searched the Scriptures earnestly and diligently, and besought the Lord to help me, until, by the grace of God, I found the truth, and Jesus Christ was revealed unto me as the suffering, despised and crucified Messiah, who endured all for my sins, for the sins of my nation and of the whole world. The change that came upon me was indeed great; my pride vanished, my dislike of Christ disappeared, all opposition to the truth ceased, and I felt a wonderful love to Him who first loved me, and who gave Himself for me.
"I can only speak of it now as a new creation. But it was the view of Jesus Christ upon the Cross which melted my heart. I cannot explain it in words, but it was a reality, and held me fast and absorbed all my thoughts until I could almost realize the words of the prophet Zechariah, 'And they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced and mourn.' And I did mourn too!
"This was no doubt the most remarkable incident in my conversion, and, like Paul of old, I 'determined not to know anything among men, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.'
"After my baptism, I wrote home and told them of my conversion, and my faith in Jesus Christ. There was no answer for some time, but it came at length couched in rather mild terms, and expressing a hope that I knew best what I had done, and had taken the step after being fully convinced that it was the right one. But I could read between the lines that they were grieved at home in that I hadleft Judaism and embraced Christianity, and thus, according to their notion, had become 'a Meshumed.' Still, my joy in the Lord increased daily, for I knew in whom I had believed.
"As to my future calling, I was uncertain for some time, although it was in my heart to preach the Gospel to my brethren, but the Lord opened a door for me, and I was thankful to realize that it was His doing and not mine.
"After three years' training in a college, I was appointed to labour first in England among the Jews, and then I went abroad and preached the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles in lands beyond the seas. Whilst abroad I was greatly blessed in my labours, and in one place I officiated in a church and dispensed the Word of Life to Jews and Gentiles for several years.
"Since my return to England, I have spent all my time in missionary operations among my Jewish brethren in various towns of this realm, and have sought, by the grace of God, to lead them to Jesus Christ, the true Messiah and Redeemer.
"It has been my privilege to preach the Gospel to a very large number of Jews and Jewesses during my missionary career, and the good Lord has been pleased to grant me tokens of His favour and approbation in souls of the House of Israel, whom I have led to the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice to know that I have spiritual children who are walking worthy of their high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Some of them are in the ministry, and others following honest callings and leading quietChristian and useful lives to the honour and praise of God. And I may be permitted to add that many others perhaps, though unknown to me at present, have been led to believe in Jesus Christ through my humble instrumentality, and who are known of God."
Montefiore, Lydia, was born a Jewess, and was the aunt of Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart. Her parents were orthodox Jews, and she was taught strictly to observe the Sabbath as a sacred day, as well as the feasts and fasts, and other ceremonies prescribed by the law of Moses. Early in life she was instructed in the duties enjoined by the rabbis on Jewish women. At the same time she had instilled into her youthful mind the lofty idea of the Unity of God, and the pre-eminence of the Jews.
After the death of her parents she visited America, and some of the countries of Europe, but finally took up her abode in Marseilles, where she remained until her death. "In March 1854," writes Mr. J. P. Cohen, "I arrived in Marseilles as missionary under the auspices of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews, and in the following month I was introduced to Miss Montefiore by a lady who felt a deep interest in her spiritual welfare, but before doing so she said, 'You will find her an out-and-out Jewess, and a great bigot.'
"On entering her house the lady said, 'I have brought an Israelite, Mr. Cohen, and his wife to see you.' She received us very kindly, and after the ladies had had some conversation, observing the Bible on a small table by her side, I said, 'You read yourBible, I see.' 'Yes,' she replied, 'it is my greatest comfort.' I took the sacred volume and read Isaiah liii., and at the close asked her what she thought of that wondrous chapter. 'I should like to hear your opinion upon it,' replied Miss Montefiore. I told her I could unhesitatingly say that it referred to the life and death of the Messiah; and that it had been literally accomplished in the person of Jesus, whom I believed to be the promised Messiah. 'Then you are a Christian,' she said. 'I am happy to say I am,' was my reply. 'God has graciously opened my eyes to behold in Jesus my promised Redeemer.' Turning to the lady who had introduced us, she angrily said, 'I thought you told me they were Israelites?' 'So they are, true Israelites,' replied the lady. A short pause ensued, and from the quivering of Miss Montefiore's lips and flushed cheeks, I could plainly see that her Jewish pride was roused, and with much vehemence she said, 'I think it is most insulting to call on people, and try to convert them from the faith of their fathers. Why not let every one remain in the religion in which they were born? I must tell you I am a thorough Jewess: I was born a Jewess, and I have lived eighty-three years as a Jewess, and hope I shall die a Jewess.' But quickly recovering her composure she said, 'I repeatedly hear Christians say that they love the God of Abraham. I cannot conceive how they can do that, and not keep the law which He gave to His servant Moses. If Christ has done away with the law of Moses, how can He be the Messiah?' I replied that this was one of the manyerroneous ideas the Jews have of Christ. He did not come to destroy the law, or the prophets, as the Jews seemed to think, but to fulfil all that the law and the prophets wrote concerning Him. It was He who made known the true meaning of all the Mosaic ordinances and institutions. He explained their righteous precepts, the latter of which at the time of His coming the scribes and Pharisees had rendered of none effect through their traditions. Besides, I told her that God had promised to make a new covenant with us, and to write His law in our hearts. Here she rather abruptly interrupted, and asked where that new covenant was to be found. 'It is not in my Bible,' she said. 'Pardon me, it is in your Bible,' and I shewed her Jer. xxxi. 31-33, which she read with evident surprise.
"We conversed for a long time; Miss Montefiore shewing great interest in all I said, and as we were about to leave she pleasantly remarked, 'I cannot understand how a Jew who believes in Jesus can still be an Israelite.' I told her not to think I ceased to be a Jew because I believed in the Lord Jesus, far from it; He was a Jew Himself; all His first disciples were Jews; He personally preached only to Jews; and it was not till the Jews refused to listen that His apostles were sent to the Gentiles. She seemed much pleased with this piece of Scriptural truth, and on bidding her adieu, she asked us to call again, and said, 'I shall be pleased to see you at any time, except on the Saturday, which day I set apart for prayer and Bible reading.'
"I soon paid her another visit, and after a little talk about passing events our conversation turned on repentance, which appeared to be her favourite topic. I said, 'What we want most is to have our sins forgiven; not always to be repenting of them, but to forsake them altogether. God did not say to our fathers when in Egypt, "When I hear you repenting I will save you," but He says, "When I see the blood I will pass over you" (Exod. xii. 13). The blood was Israel's security then, and it is the blood now that makes atonement for the soul (Lev. xvii. 11). 'And without shedding ofbloodthere is no remission.'
"After a little hesitation she said: 'We have no priest, no temple; the place appointed where alone it was lawful to offer sacrifice is inaccessible to us (Jews). Surely the Almighty will not require of us that which we cannot perform; He will mercifully accept our prayers, our fastings, our observance of the Sabbath, and the reading of the law, as I do daily, as a substitute for performing the law.' 'Dear madam,' I said, 'let me beg of you not to rely on such bruised reeds, nor build your soul's salvation on such sinking sand; they are but vain excuses; they may quiet your conscience, calm your fears, and lull you into a false security, which you may only discover when too late.'
"The following will shew her idea of repentance. In writing to a friend in March 1853 on this subject, she said: 'You say repentance is not sufficient for forgiveness of sins. Then why did King David say to God, "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt offerings; thesacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise!" Let us follow God's commandments, and do unto others as we would they should do unto us, and be patient under all adversities. But the last, I fear, I am deficient in, for I am often very irritable and impatient.'
"It was wonderful to see how her views of the Messiahship of Jesus became daily more distinct.
"I have just returned from a visit to our aged friend, Miss Montefiore, after having had a most interesting conversation, or rather, I might say, a Bible reading with her. I was greatly pleased to observe that her tone, when speaking of the Saviour, was much milder than in any of my former visits; and her anxiety for the truth was so great that it gave me real pleasure to be with her. She said: 'All I want to know is the truth. I shall receive nothing, unless I see it plainly revealed in my Bible.' She expressed a wish to read the New Testament, and asked where she could procure one. I told her I daily expected some Bibles and Testaments from London, and that as soon as they arrived I should be most happy to supply her with one.
"About this time the cholera was raging in Marseilles, and hundreds were daily cut down by this most painful epidemic; and not feeling well myself, our friends strongly advised us to leave the town for a few weeks. During our absence the Spirit of God worked mightily in this lady's soul.
"On our return we heard she had frequently enquired after us, and often said, 'I miss them much,I hope they will soon return.' Accordingly Mrs. Cohen did not lose any time, but called upon her at once, and was received by Miss Montefiore with great affection. Having been reminded of the near approach of the Day of Atonement, and 'without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin,' she said, 'Yes, I know it, and feel it more than ever. I once kept the Day of Atonement with fasting and prayer, in the vain hope of making propitiation for my sins, but I am beginning to feel I want something better than the blood of bulls and goats to atone for them. I often repeat those words, "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief." 'Unbelief,' she said, 'has been, and still is, our sin; the veil is still over our people's eyes; but it shall be removed, for God has promised it. They will not search the Scriptures as I do.' With clasped hands and uplifted eyes she said, 'I'll tell you what I say to the Anointed One (Jesus, I mean), "If I have done or said anything against Thee, pardon, oh pardon me, for I did it in ignorance."' This was indeed good news to us, and we earnestly prayed God to deepen these convictions, to teach her by His Spirit, and give her much grace to impart them to her Jewish friends and relatives. The New Testament which I promised, but was unable to give her on account of our sudden and unexpected departure, was supplied her by a friend during our absence, the reading of which proved a great blessing to her.
"A few days beforeYom Kippurshe said, 'The more I read my Bible, the more I am beginning tofeel my being born a Jewess can never save me; I must have something better than my fastings and prayers.' Every visit I paid her I could see a considerable change in her sentiments respecting the Lord Jesus. It was pleasing to me, who had prayerfully watched her for so many months, to observe how gradually her Jewish prejudices disappeared, her views of the Gospel becoming more and more clear, and her love for Jesus increasing daily. It was in the beginning of October 1854, she expressed a wish to be baptized, provided it could be done very secretly, on account of her position. She said, 'I should not even like my servant to know of it' (who had lived in her service four years). I told her to remember that 'the fear of man bringeth a snare,' and that Jesus Christ tells us that, 'Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in Heaven'; I also advised her to read the tenth chapter of St. Matthew, at the same time to make it a matter of serious prayer before God, and I would do the same, and that we would converse more on this subject at another time.
"Let me here remark that Miss Montefiore had a niece in England, who had already embraced Christianity, and her heart's desire and prayer to God for her aunt was, that she might be saved. Every letter she sent her aunt contained some exhortation to search the Scriptures; she also forwarded her religious books; but the contents of the letters were soon forgotten; nevertheless, I believe that the first link in the chain of human agency in Miss Montefiore'sconversion was to be found in this niece's persevering prayers for her aged relative. Not having heard from her aunt for a year, and knowing nothing of our Christian intercourse, the lady was surprised and thankful to receive the following letter:—